(Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc) Jonas Vingegaard maintained his 10-second lead in the general classification of the Tour de France on Sunday, while Dutch veteran Wout Poels won the 15th stage alone, at the end of a difficult journey in the Alps, with an arrival at the summit.
Exactly a week after his compatriot and teammate Michael Woods’ stage victory, Quebecer Hugo Houle had his best performance of the 2023 edition of the Tour.
The 32-year-old cyclist from Sainte-Perpétue finished the race in 13th place, five minutes 31 seconds behind Poels. Before this 13th place, Houle had offered his best performance by finishing 20th in the third stage, on July 3.
Woods finished in 67th place, 27:52 from the winner while Guillaume Boivin finished the stage in 135th place, 34:32 from the top.
With his performance on Sunday, Houle moved up 14 spots in the overall standings, from 60th to 46th. His delay on Vingegaard is 2:12:40.
Woods has slipped six positions and is now 38th, 1:48:31 behind the yellow jersey holder. Boivin remained at No. 126, almost four hours behind.
Poels, who was part of an early Sunday breakaway, took advantage of a short but very steep climb just before the final seven-kilometre ascent to the finish line to pull away from his rivals.
He covered the 179km distance between Les Gets les Portes du Soleil and Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc in 4:40:45. Wout van Aert finished second, more than two minutes away, and Mathieu Burgaudeau completed the podium in the stage, exactly three minutes from the winner.
“I’m enjoying this moment very much. I had always dreamed of winning a stage in the Tour de France, said Poels. I have a lot of fun with Team Sky. What a great experience! »
Engaged in a fierce fight for the yellow jersey since the start of the competition, Vingegaard and two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar have remained together throughout the day in the group of main contenders.
Pogacar attempted a sprint 900 meters from the finish line to distance his rival, but Vingegaard, the defending champion, immediately got into his wheel and wasted no time.
“I felt Jonas was feeling very good and I knew I couldn’t get away from him,” Pogacar said. The climb was too easy. »
Their duel will resume in Tuesday’s time trial, a distance of 22.4 km between Passy and Combloux.
“I know this course well and I think it works in favor of my skills,” Pogacar said.
On Monday, the cyclists will enjoy their second and last day off since the start of the Tour.
